Toy



J. JNCEK.

TOY.

APPLICATION FILED 0611511919.

Patentdi Mau. 3U, 19%,'

JOSEPH JANCEK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TOY.

Application led October' 15, 1919.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, Josnrrr JANGEK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident `of the city of New York, lborough of Manhattan, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful In'lprovements in Toys, of Which the :following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to toys, and its object is to provide a novel device of this class in Which a steel ball., once started on its course, makes a series of leaps over properly arranged troughs and posts. A preferred forni of construction is illustrated in the accompanying' drawing in Which- Figure 1 is a plan View;

Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal section on line 9 2 of Fig. 1, and

Fie: 3 is a transverse section on line 3 3 of Fig. 3.

The base 1, which may be of Wood or other suitable material, has mounted thereon a series of standards 2, 3, 4l, 5 and 6. There are five standards in this instance, but. the number may vary. Each standard consists of two sections, a lower fixed section 7 and an upper section S slidably mounted on the louer section. A set-screw 9, carried by the lower section 'T of each standard, clamps the upper section in any adjusted position. Any other suitable arrangement may be resorted to for adjusting the heights of the standards.

The standards 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 carry at their upper ends the troughs 10, 11, 12, 13 and lfl, respectively. The standards are so adjusted that these troughs are held at gradually decreasing heights, trough l() being the highest and trough la the lowest, as shovvn in lTig. Q.

Arranged in line With the troughs are the tlat-top posts l5, 16, 17 and 18, Which are ii'ig'idly mounted on the base 1. These posts may he of steel, glass or other hard elastic material, and are of approximately the saine height. As seen from Fig. 2, the posts are lower than the lowest trough 111.

The relative arrangement and adjustment of the troughs and posts are such that a small. steel ball (or one made of other hard elastic material), when dropped or placed in the trough 10, Will automatically follow the course roughly indicated by the dotted line .l in Fig. 2. That is to say, the ball B will drop onto the post 15, and from there Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 30, 1920.

serial No. 330,745.

rebound into the trough 11; from the trough .11 it ywill drop onto the next post 16, rebound into the trough 1Q, and so on, leapmg over the succeeding troughs and posts until it falls into the tray 19. This receiving tray may be a separate receptacle, or merely a shallow recess cut in the base l, as illustrated. lf desired, the tray 19 may have a series of numbered pockets suitably arranged, into which the balls may roll.

To catch any balls that may not reach the tray 19, the base l is provided with the longitudinal channels or runways 2O which slope. downwardly toward the recess 2l,

into which the balls Will roll from either channel. The central section 22 of the base is preferably formed to slope toward the channels Q0, so that any ball which drops onto the section 22 will roll into one of the channels 20, whence it gravitates into the recess 2l. The base l may `be provided with suitable means for adjusting it With respect to the horizontal. For this purpose l have shown a pair of screws 23 provided with hnurled heads 9.a-, for readily turning the screws until the base is in the right position.

l have obtained the most satisfactory results with posts of hard steel, and I found that it is best to use posts of increasing hardness. That is to say, if the post 15 is of mildly tempered steel, the post 16 should be a little harder (at least at the top), and

so on, the last post 1S being glass-hard.

After cach upward leap or rebound, the ball loses some of its momentum, so that when. it drops from the trough 13 onto the post 18, it is so Weak (as it were) in its velocity 4that it must strike a very hard surface to be lifted by the rebound into the trough 'l-l.

With balls of different Weights or differentinaterial, the heights of the troughs will,` of course, have to be adjusted to suit each particular ball. or set of balls. llvmi balls of the same material and of apparently the same size, shape and Weight, do not behave in exactly the same Way, and this uncertainty serves `to increase the fascination of the toy.

While l have shown and described a particular construction, l do not Wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, because it is obvious that the basic idea` of nl v invention may be mechanically carried out in other Ways.

Having thus described my invention which l". claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A toy comprising ay base, a .series vof spaced troughs supported in alinement on said base at gradually decreasing heights, and a fiat-topped upright post of hard elastic material fixed upon said base between each pair of adjacent troughs and in alinement therewith, said postsbeing lower than said troughs, the relative heights and spacing of said troughs and posts being such that ahard elastiebally placed or dropped in the highest trough will fall upon the adjacent post, whence it will rebound into the next trough and `from there fall upon the next postthis action of the ball being automaticallyrepeated for the successive posts and troughs.

2. A'l toy comprising a base, a series of spaced troughs supported in alinernent on said base at `gradiwilly decreasing heights, and anat-topped upright post oi'hard elastic material ixed upon lsaid base between each pair of adjacent troughs and in alinement therewith, said posts being lower' than said'troughs, therelative heights and spacing ofrsaid troughs and posts being such that a'hard elastic ballplaced or dropped in the highest trough willy fall upon the adjacent post,whence it will rebound into the next -trough and from there fall upon the next post, this action of the ball being automatically repeated for the successive posts and troughs, and means for regulating the height of each trough.

3. Aftoy comprising a base, a series of spaced standards mounted in alinement on said base, each standard consisting of a fixed lowerpart and a vertically7 adjustable upper part, a trough carried by the upper part of each standard, said troughs being supported at gradually decreasing heights, and a flattopped upright post of hard elastic material fixed upon said base between each pair of adjacent troughs and in alinement therewith, said posts being lower than said troughs, the relative heights and spacing of said troughs and posts being such that a hard elastic ballplaced or ydropped in the highest trough will fall upon the adjacent post, whenceit willrebound into the next tween the two highest troughs to the post between the two lowest troughs, for the purposes set orth.

5. A toy comprising a base, a series ot spaced troughs supported in alinement on saidlbase at gradually decreasing heights,

-and a Hat-topped upright'post of steel iixed upon said base between each pair of adja cent troughs, said posts being lower than said troughs and the top surface of each post increasing in hardness from the post jbetweenthe two highest troughs to the post between the two lowest troughs, for the purposes set forth, and means for regulating vthe height of each trough.

G. A toy comprising a base, a. series of spaced troughs supported in alinement on said base at gradually decreasing heights, and a flat-topped upright post ot hard elastie material xed upon said base between each pair of adjacent troughs and in alinement therewith, said posts being lower than said troughs, the relative heights and spacing of said troughs and posts being such that a vhard elastic ball placed or drop )ed in the highest trough will fall upon the adjacent post, whence it will rebound into the nexttrough and from there fall upon the next post, this action of the ball being antomatically repeated for the successive posts and troughs, said base having a pan' of longitudinal channels or runways to receive any ball that fails to rebound into a trough, said 'base being also provided with a tray to receive the balls that drop from the last or lowest trough.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 8 day of October, 1919.

JOSEPH JANClll. 

